[ladylilo]

Disney Cruise Line - Western Caribbean Cruise
Sat 23 Oct-Mon 1 Nov 2004


Saturday: Friends came to pick us up to take us to Port Canaveral to embark the ship. Took about an hour to drive. Very easy to find (although we cheated a bit by following a Disney Cruise Line Bus!). Disney has its own terminal for checking in and embarking. This took a while and they were very security conscious (a good thing). Finally boarded about 1 pm. Every family has their name announced as they embark and all the crew clap to welcome you on board. Our room was not going to be ready until 1:30 so we went to have some lunch. This was at Topsiders, which is a buffet dining room on Deck 9, the pool deck. The food was amazing. There was everything you could want, cold cuts, salad, hot food, pastries and bread, fruit, deserts and drinks. After lunch had a walk around the ship, which is BEAUTIFUL. It was absolutely spotless and remained that way for the whole week. We then headed off to our stateroom. This was small but well presented and had everything you would need including a fridge and safe. The bed was huge! In the stateroom we found our Personal Navigator. This is your guide for the day as to what activities are going on as well as all the information you might need, such as shop opening times, sailing times etc. We also were given some shopping guides to our ports of call as well as information on the excursions that were available. Trying to take all this in made my head spin with information overload, so after unpacking we went to register Ryan for the Oceaneers’ Lab kids club. The staff were really friendly and the Lab looked great fun. There were several computers and a large projection/cinema screen with beanbags and seats in front. We were issued with a pager for the duration of the cruise and given a navigator that showed everything going on at the Oceaneers’ Lab for the whole week. The Lab is open from 8 am to 1 am every day with various activities throughout such as learning how to draw Disney Characters, movies, board games, and computer games, to name just a few. We got ready for dinner and went to watch Mickey Mania, which is a fun family game show all about Disney. After this we headed to Parrot Cay Restaurant for our dinner where we met our Servers who were Oliver from the Philippines and Alvira from Jamaica. Both were friendly and made us very welcome. We were seated on a table with another family of three who, as it turns out, came from Colchester – the same town as us!!! We still don’t know if this was deliberate but if not then what an amazing coincidence. Dinner was delicious. After Dinner Ryan went to the Lab while we had look round the shops. We decided to book a snorkelling excursion for Cozumel later in the week as well as a Banana Boat Ride at Castaway Cay. We headed back to our room to retire for the night and found that the lamps had been turned on and the beds turned down with chocolates on the pillows!!! Very luxurious!



Sunday – Key West: Woke up and went for breakfast at Topsiders. It was a bit cloudy but hot and by the time we had reached Key West it was hot and sunny with lovely blue sky. We docked at Key West at 11 am and heard the ship’s horn for the first time. This is a bit special as it plays "when you wish upon a star" instead of the usual ships’ horns which are just one long blast. It made us smile. Had a fairly lazy morning by the family pool (Goofy’s) until Ryan went to the Lab. Then Hubby and I went to the adults-only pool (Quiet Cove), where there were only a few other people. We watched lots of people going ashore to Key West while we had lunch, then we collected Ryan and went ashore ourselves. Had a leisurely walk around the Key West dock area and did some shopping in the Market Square. Bought some Christmas decorations!! At 5pm we headed back to ship and saw the banner that is hung over the gangplank which welcomes you home. I thought this was a lovely touch and a perfect example of Disney’s flare for small details. Before dinner we went to watch "Who Wants To Be A Mouseketeer?" in the Walt Disney Theatre (a beautiful 900 seat theatre). This was a Disney version of the Millionaire game show and the top prize was a 7-night Disney Cruise for two. Not a bad prize. Needless to say, none of the randomly selected contestants won the top prize, but the other prizes (onboard credits) were well worth winning. After this, in the main Atrium there were some characters meet and greets. Ryan had his photo with Pinocchio and Chip and Dale. Dinner this night was in Lumiere’s, a Beauty and The Beast themed French style restaurant. Very lovely. After dinner we went to the Promenade Deck and watched the sail-away, then we went back to our room to find a towel cobra on the bed! This was the first of many animals made from towels to be left every evening, including and elephant, a lobster, and a monkey!



Monday – Day at Sea: Slept in fairly late. Hubby went to have a haircut at the Vista Salon. Met our Stateroom Host, Albert, who was really nice and friendly. Had a laze around the pool. Much busier today (obviously as we are not in port) but still did not seem crowded. Later on we went to play Bingo at the Rockin’ D Bar. Tonight was Formal Night. Before dinner we went to watch "The Golden Mickeys". This is an Oscars-style awards ceremony show, which was really great and involved so many characters from the Disney movies. After this we went to the Atrium to have some formal portraits done. It was lovely to see everyone dressed up to the nines. Dinner was at Animator’s Palate. This is a really special restaurant that starts off black and white, but turns to colour. After dinner we went for a drink at the Promenade Lounge then off to bed.



Tuesday – Costa Maya: This was supposed to be our day at Grand Cayman, which was rescheduled due to the hurricane damage sustained on that island. When we docked there was another cruise ship in port called the Star Princess. It was huge. It looked like a floating tower block. It was nowhere near as pretty as the Disney Magic. From the ship Costa Maya looked very lush and green, almost jungle-like and there was a very long jetty to the shore. There was a market square with shops and a swimming pool but no beach, which was a bit disappointing. After a while it clouded over and we had a squally shower so we went to look round the shops. Most of them sold the same souvenirs so we made our way back to the ship. It was very hot so we had a dip in Goofy’s pool to cool down. It rained quite hard again so we went for a nap. After getting ready for dinner, we went for a stroll on the promenade deck. You can walk all they way round the ship on this deck and there are also some very comfortable loungers. It is also nice and quiet here. We found the Aft Overlook on Deck 7 and watched the Star Princess sail away. Our Captain Tom blew his whistle and the guests aboard the Star Princess clapped and cheered. It made me feel quite proud to be aboard such a special ship! Before dinner we went to watch the Hercules: The Muse-ical show, which was very funny. After dinner at Parrot Cay we went to Shutters, which is the on-board photo shop, to view our formal portraits, one of which we bought. We were pretty tired by then so had a fairly early night.



Wednesday – Cozumel: Hot and sunny. Cozumel is a fairly big port and there were several cruisers docked. After breakfast we went to the rendezvous point for our Reef Snorkel excursion. Arrived at Sunset Beach for the snorkelling. I had never snorkelled before and was not very confident about it, but there were guides on hand to help and they were really great. We had a guided snorkel for about 45 minutes and saw lots of fish and coral. After getting back to the port we went shopping for beach shoes but could not find any. However, we did find a bar that sold Corona beer for $1 each, and as we were thirsty (!) we decided that it would be unwise not to take advantage!! As we were heading back to the ship, we saw several people taking photos of the Disney Magic and complimenting the ship, which again made me feel quite proud that it was our home for a week. Tonight was the Pirates in the Caribbean party night and all the characters and crew were dressed as pirates. At dinner in Lumiere’s we were all given headscarves to wear and the menus were written on treasure maps. There was a party on the pool deck after dinner.



Thursday – Day at Sea: Cloudy and windy. Character breakfast today at Parrot Cay, which was very hectic and busy but good fun. There were lots of characters meet and greets this morning in the Atrium. I went for a manicure at the Vista Spa. This, unfortunately, was a bit disappointing and not really worth the money ($40). The boat was rocking quite a lot today and the report from the bridge said waves were 8-15 feet high. It was very windy outside so we stayed in most of the day, although it did brighten up later in the afternoon. Before dinner we went to a show in the Walt Disney Theatre called "Dreams". This was a fabulous show that has been voted No 1 show on the cruiselines. After the show we went to the Rockin’ D Bar to watch a ventriloquist named Michael Harrison. He was really funny and the show was aimed right at the kids. (He did an adult-only show later on). Tonight was semi-formal dinner at Animators Palate and after dinner the ships navigator was offering a star gazing tour, but it was too windy and too cloudy to see much, which was a great shame. So, we went to watch the family game show called "Walk the Plank", which was fun. At 11 pm there was the Captain’s Gala Dessert Buffet at Lumiere’s. WOW!!! I have never seen so many amazing looking gateaux and desserts. There were ice sculptures and beautiful flower arrangements as well as chocolate and marzipan sculptures of Disney characters (I will post pictures). Sadly we were still too stuffed from dinner to really enjoy the desserts!



Friday – Castaway Cay: The highlight of the week. Hot and sunny with a gentle breeze – a beautiful day! The island is exactly how you would imagine a Caribbean island to be, with bright blue water and white sandy beaches. (Pictures posted) There was obviously some hurricane damage to the foliage, namely stripped trees but no structural damage could be seen. Went ashore after breakfast and stopped at the shop first. The boys went for their Banana Boat ride, and while I was waiting for them I watched a "Just Married" couple have their wedding photos taken. They were both dressed in their wedding outfits and looked delightful. What an amazing place to have wedding photos taken. When the boys returned we found a nice spot under a palm tree and headed for the sea. We had rented floats for the day and had a lovely morning just having fun in the water. Lunch was at Cookies BBQ and was delicious. After lunch we went snorkelling. I enjoyed this much more this time and was confident enough to go on my own. It was quite shallow with only a few places that were too deep to stand in, and lots to see. Had to head back to the ship at 4 pm (far too early!) for the disembarkation talk. Did not want to leave Castaway Cay. Would really have liked two days here it is just so beautiful. After the talk got ready for dinner and went to watch the final night show. This was great and was a reminder of all the things that had gone on all week. Went to room to pack then went to dinner. Said goodbye to Oli and Alvira then went to Shutters to have a final look at our photos. Bought a few more! Went to finish packing and put our cases out to be collected and then paid the bill. We had not spent as much as expected. Headed off to bed as we had to be up early the next day.



Saturday – Disembarkation at Port Canaveral: Very sad day! Had to report to Rockin’ D Bar at 6am (!) for Immigration. After this went for breakfast at Topsiders and waited to disembark at about 8:30 am. Found the shuttle bus to take us to collect our rental car for the drive back to Orlando. Stopped off at Florida Mall for a spot of retail therapy. Found our hotel on International Drive that we had booked for two nights. Having been thoroughly spoilt by Disney for the past two weeks, this was a bit of a disappointment, but it was cheap! We went to Downtown Disney for the evening and had dinner at Planet Hollywood. What a rip-off! Don’t bother going. You can get a much nicer dinner at Sizzlers for about half the price. After dinner we went to the cinema and then got completely lost on the way home and ended up near Tampa!! (I had the map the wrong way up – he he!).



Sunday (Halloween) – Universal Islands of Adventure: Warm and sunny. Drove to IOA and found that our tickets had expired! (We bought them in 2000, but I thought we still had unused days on them!) Paid $170 for three tickets to IOA. The park was not very busy at all and we walked straight on to every ride, including Spiderman and the Hulk. Our longest wait the whole day was for Duelling Dragons, and this was about 20 minutes. We had done all we wanted to by 4 pm. Went to find the Belz Outlets and got lost again. When we did finally find them they were shutting!! Went back to hotel for a swim then headed for dinner at Sizzlers and played miniature golf before heading off to bed. Home tomorrow.

__________________

Lanyards are hidden hidden. Turn them on in your options

xxX Claire Xxx

Wish I was there

My Countdown

Counting down to: Five days in NYC then 7 days at Port Orleans, FQ!!
See ya real soon!

[~*wishes*~]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Sounds like you had a great time. ^-^

[Mickey Crazy]

Wonderful Trip report . Thanks .

[*** Jo ***]

great report sounds like u had a great time!

[JennD]

Thanks for the great trip report! It sounds like you had a wonderful time! I've been wanting to go on a disney cruise for the longest time - I'm trying to get some family and friends to go next summer - I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[ladylilo]

Thanks. It really was the most relaxing part of our holiday. There were no worries about driving, getting lost, cooking etc. The crew were so helpful and kind and could not do enough for you. It was wonderful. Its not cheap but we felt it was worth every penny and can't wait to go again!

[Pete Ward]

wow, i want to go on the cruise so bad but my parents dont really want to spend the money this year.

[lizziemcguire76]

After reading your report i'm for sure considering taking a disney cruise some day!! Thanx for sharing your report sounds like you had an awesome time

[ladylilo]

Finally, FINALLY I have got photos to share of our Disney Cruise. This is my first time for posting photos so I hope it works!

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ladylilo1/my_photos

[lizziemcguire76]

Thanks for sharing those with us!!!

[SnoWhite]

Great pictures!! Thanks for sharing, makes me want to go on another one